The Last Layover Read Free Page A

“You’d better grease this one because after that smooth ride, the passengers will definitely notice if you bonk it. No pressure, though,” he said with a devious smile.
    Jason just replied, “Oh, ye of little faith.” He then added a few knots of airspeed to their calculated final approach speed and said, “That’s for a cushion.”
    Evan looked at him and said, “Just don’t float it. A greaser that touches down beyond the touch down zone doesn’t count as a good landing, no matter what the passengers think.”
    Jason chuckled. “Watch and learn, brother,” he said as he brought the airplane in for a landing so smooth it was hard to tell if they had even touched down.
    As they rolled down the runway and decelerated with the thrust reversers, Evan said, “Well, you set the bar high for my next one with that.”
    “I do what I can to keep you on your game, old man.”  The two always had some sort of healthy competition going on between them.
    With the reduced flights and such, it seemed eerily quiet as they taxied to the gate. What not too long ago was a bustling, congested airport was now ghostly quiet with just a few aircraft taxiing around. On the bright side, Evan thought, at least there wouldn't be lines trying to get in and out of this place like before. The U.S. Economy was so depressed, at least twenty percent of the domestic flights had been removed from the regular schedule. The Middle Eastern, Asian, and European airlines seemed like they were still running at normal capacity, however.
    “Those foreign airlines don't seem to have cut back any,” Evan commented taking notice.
    “Yeah, they must be coming here for the cheap shopping now that the dollar is so low, just like how Americans used to feel in Mexico with the peso,” added Jason. They just nodded in agreement with mutual disappointment for the current state of the country and the world.
    Upon reaching the terminal, Evan pulled the aircraft into the gate. As what seemed to be common practice these days, they had to wait for about fifteen minutes for a gate agent to arrive to operate the jet-way. Once she arrived, she pulled the jet-way up to the main cabin door and the passengers were deplaned. The crew gathered their things, secured the airplane, and headed out of the terminal for their extended layover in New York.
    With the JFK airport being located on Long Island, just east of Manhattan, the crews always stayed at the Rockville Center Suites Hotel near Rockville Center on Long Island. The hotel was conveniently located just two train stops away from Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. There were a few local pubs and restaurants and a nearby train station, but otherwise it was mostly a retail and residential area. It was close enough to the hustle and bustle of downtown that crews on overnight layovers could easily visit, while also being far enough away to be able to avoid it.
    The crew made their way through the terminal to the curb for their ground transportation to the hotel. Once they were on their way via the hotel shuttle van, Glen said, “Hey, I'm hitting the train station and spending the day in the city, and tonight who knows what? Who's with me?”
    Being new to the whole scene and excited to explore, Peggy said, “I'm in, but I'm flat broke so I can't spend much.”
    First year flight attendant pay is basically poverty wages, and with the company deducting the cost of their uniforms from their first paycheck, they were not left with much. The first few months on the job for flight attendants without someone to help support them is usually a ramen-noodle-every-meal kind of lifestyle.
    Glen said, “Don’t sweat the money, honey, it will be a blast and I'll help you out. Besides, you're a cute young thing; plenty of guys will be willing to buy your drinks where we are going. How about you two rednecks? Are you still gonna slam-click me?”
    Slam-clicking is a commonly used phrase to describe a fellow crew member who simply